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Matter of personal freedom: Rahul on SC gay verdict

New Delhi, Dec 12, 2013 (IANS)

After Congress chief Sonia Gandhi expressed her disappointment with the Supreme Court order on the gay rights issue, party vice president Rahul Gandhi said "these matters should be left to individuals".

Asked about his reaction to the Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that overruled the 2009 verdict of the Delhi High Court decriminalising consensual sexual relations between adults of the same gender, Gandhi said: "I would agree more with the high court order... This country is known for freedom... freedom of expression."

"These matters should be left to individuals, as they are matters of personal freedom," the Congress vice president said.

Gay activists have protested the Supreme Court verdict which restores the British-era Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that punishes "carnal intercourse against the order of nature".

The apex court held that it was parliament's prerogative to change the law in tune with social circumstances.

"I am disappointed that the Supreme Court reversed the previous Delhi High Court ruling on the issue of gay rights," Congress president Sonia Gandhi said in a statement earlier Thursday.

"I hope parliament will address this issue and uphold constitutional guarantee of life and liberty to all citizens, including those directly affected by this judgment," she said.